EAST LANSING — If signing-day drama is your thing, Michigan State is your place.

Mark Dantonio already is assured one of the highest-ranked classes of his tenure. He has never had this many top prospects in play entering the final day — though late Tuesday night the number was chopped from four to three.

Offensive tackle Jamarco Jones (Chicago De La Salle) took himself off the board with a late-night announcement that he’s sticking with Ohio State. It was the second time since June that he picked OSU over MSU, and he told Scout.com it was “incredibly difficult” to turn down the Spartans and that “they will continue to have a great program because of the great people that run it.”

Harrell is considered a strong bet for the Spartans, a perception strengthened by a picture tweeted Tuesday by MSU’s latest commitment. Defensive tackle Craig Evans posted a shot of him with Enoch Smith Jr., a defensive tackle and MSU verbal commitment, and Harrell as they prepare to play for USA Football in the International Bowl this weekend in Arlington, Texas.

“Squad MSU makin noise and we about to put on for our country,” Evans, previously a Wisconsin verbal commitment, tweeted.

Cage should make his choice known today, and McDowell will at a news conference at Southfield High. Though he has been considered an MSU lean for the past several weeks, McDowell’s parents have made clear they don’t want him at MSU.

His mother, Joya Crowe, told the Free Press on Monday evening that she had a “bad experience” on her son’s official visit to MSU.

“It was something on my end,” she said, “I don’t want to get into specifics.”

She also said “too much social life” at MSU is a concern. And she questioned whether MSU defensive line coach Ron Burton “has the background” to develop her son into a first-round pick, though MSU’s defensive line excelled in Burton’s first season after he spent the previous 10 at Air Force.

So analysts now expect McDowell to pick Florida State or Ohio State, with Michigan a possibility as his fourth finalist.

The Spartans could end up with a class ranked in the top 25 by the various recruiting sites, which has only happened once under Dantonio, in 2009.

“For the most part, they’re recruiting the same types of kids, they’re not changing their formula,” Scout.com national analyst Allen Trieu said of Dantonio and his staff. “Kids with chips on their shoulders, some who showed up on campus multiple times and earned their offers. But this class is separated a little bit at the top.”